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Link to a page in the Wiki Here: Overview Who? What? Where? Why? How? !!YOU!! Hey, teacher, the time for technology integration is NOW! While we are still a few years off from full inclusion of our Special Education Learners, NOW is the time to begin to integrate the practices intended that aid in differentiating the curriculum in a way beneficial to all learners who will cross the threshold of the classroom. Increasing the use of classroom technology and adding the use of current Web 2.0 tools and applications will engage all level of learners. While a bit of an over exaggeration of the ease of technology integration, the first video is a great example of how technology can ease some of the burden of differentiating assessment to meet the unique needs of the learners in the classroom. When one considers the Access Points curriculum, and how it is broken down into the three domains; the assessment in the video becomes one that can be used to meet both State Standards and Access Points curriculum with the teacher only adjusting how they present a question. View with glee as a YouTube star attempts to engage a group of Swedish Tweens in an interactive Geography lesson. Teachers are encouraged to consider how this assessment could be integrated into an Access Points infused History or Geography class. Award-winning teacher, Bill Metcalf explains how technology helps his students collaborate and build off of each other's strengths to solve complex problems in the second video. While viewing the video, the audience is encouraged to consider the major demographic shift set to occur in their classroom in the upcoming school years. Consider how students can collaborate using technology in ways previously inaccessible to a portion of the student population. !!STUDENTS!! Think of the various ways that our General Education students benefit from technology both in the classroom and out. Now consider the myriad of technology-based solutions for students who face both traditional disabilities and those we are just beginning to explore. In the third video, teachers and students explain the importance of technology in fostering a meaningful and creative learning environment. Education Week explains how technology encourages personalized, student-centered learning, explaining the details of the most common educational technology choices. Technology provides many student-centered, collaborative learning opportunities, while also allowing teachers to provide more differentiated learning opportunities, tailored to fit every students' unique set of needs. Read the full article Assistive technology is familiar to teachers in the world of Special Education, but many General Education teachers have little to no experience with the tools beyond an FM transmitter or NEO word processor. The fourth embedded video provides a great introduction to assistive technology and the processes used to ensure each student is using a device appropriate to their needs. Bookshare is a resource which provides reading support in a variety of ways; while Bookshare is a paid resource, there are many free resources available which provide quite similar features and are designed to aid struggling readers the students in the fifth video explain how technology like this helps them to access grade-level curriculum despite their limited reading skills. These students are talking about the Bookshare program, but our school district recommends teachers encourage their students to work within EPIC books. !!PARENTS!! Parents recognize the value of technology in the classroom, especially Special Education Parents. The National Parent Center on Transition and Employment features students of varying ability levels chronicling their vocational lives as seen through their eyes and their parents'. All teachers will benefit from getting to know the young people featured in the videos; those with limited experience with Special Education may find it to be an eye-opening experience. In the sixth and final embedded video the viewer meets Jaren, a young web entrepreneuer with limited mobility due to Crebral Palsy and his mother, Charlotte who supported him every step of his journey, fighting for the appropriate assistive technology to help Jared find his voice and his calling. The Center for Parent Information and Resources provides us a look at what goes into selecting the tools for a student to use and offers insight for parents on assessing the effectiveness of their childs' tool. Click here for link to resource